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חֶשְׁבּוֹן

𐤇𐤔𐤁𐤅𐤍

cheshbôwn

H2808 noun

SILEX Entry

Root חַשַׁב to think, to account, to consider, to plan

Definition

Primary meaning: Cheshbon, the name of an ancient settlement located east of the Jordan River, prominent in Israelite tradition as a site of conquest from the Amorites. In non-toponymic use (rare), the base sense connects to accounting or reckoning, but the term occurs almost exclusively as a place name in the Hebrew Bible.

Semantic Range

name of an ancient city (Heshbon); derived sense in later Hebrew: account, calculation, reckoning; rare or implied sense: contrivance, plan, intelligence (not attested in biblical narrative for this word)

Root / Etymology

From the root חָשַׁב (ḥ-š-b), meaning 'to think, calculate, plan, reckon.' חֶשְׁבּוֹן is formally a noun formation from this root and could mean 'plan, account, reckoning,' but in biblical usage it functions as a proper noun for a particular locale. There is no evidence that the site was named for literal 'accounts' or 'contrivances'; the direct lexical meaning is eclipsed by the toponymic usage.

Historical & Contextual Notes

חֶשְׁבּוֹן appears predominantly as the name of a city, best known as the former capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites, east of the Jordan, conquered by the Israelites (Numbers 21, Deuteronomy 2, Joshua 12). The standard English rendering is 'Heshbon.' The name’s etymological roots point to calculation or reckoning, paralleling similarly formed nouns, but this etymology is largely secondary in biblical usage. Later, in post-biblical Hebrew, derivatives of the same root serve in the literal sense of 'account' or 'calculation' (e.g., modern חשבון 'bill, account, arithmetic'). In ancient texts, the use is overwhelmingly as a proper noun; interpretation as 'device' or 'reason' is speculative and not grounded in biblical context. English translations universally render this as a place name; the association with intelligence or calculation comes primarily from root analysis, not from narrative context.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from חָשַׁב; properly, contrivance; by implication, intelligence; account, device, reason.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

חשב (ḥ-š-b) — to reckon, to account, to think, to devise

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H2803 חָשַׁב he devised
H2804 חֲשַׁב accounted ones
H2805 חֵשֶׁב with intricately woven sash of
H2807 חֲשֻׁבָה and Chashubah
H2809 חֶשְׁבּוֹן in Heshbon

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H2808-02 וְ/חֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן vecheshebon HC/Ncmsa nor device and Cheshbon 2
H2808-01 חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן cheshebon HNcmsa Reckoning-City 1

Occurrences in Scripture

3 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H2808-02 Ecclesiastes 7:25 וְ/חֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן vecheshebon HC/Ncmsa and Cheshbon
H2808-01 Ecclesiastes 7:27 חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן cheshebon HNcmsa Reckoning-City
H2808-02 Ecclesiastes 9:10 וְ/חֶשְׁבּוֹן֙ vecheshebon HC/Ncmsa nor device and Cheshbon
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